Rekha Basu: Holiday celebrations with family and friends are reminders of reasons to hope

I was going to forgo the traditional New Year column that looks back at sources of inspiration over the past year, and ahead at sources of hope in the coming one. To be honest, I wasn’t really feeling it.

The government is in shutdown over funding a wall on the border with Mexico that the president unilaterally dreamed up and had pledged Mexico would pay for. The so-called “adults in the room” (Oval Office), have again been given their marching orders. From California to Indonesia, not-so-natural disasters have robbed people of their homes and belongings. Migrant children are dying in detention, and a group of talented, long-time journalists in my newsroom are leaving. At a time when we most need a vigorous press to hold governments and institutions accountable, newspapers are contracting. At times, it can feel like the perfect storm.

But after several inspired Christmas celebrations with friends and family, that gloom was overtaken by a more potent emotion: Defiance. Because even as we push back against the wrongheaded priorities or actions of others, there is still an irrepressible instinct to move forward with faith in the future.

It's a paradox. How do we stay upbeat without discounting others' suffering, or even our own? How do we reconcile the happiness and sense of personal achievement that comes with joyous life events, with the turmoil in the nation or world? The answer, I think, is this: Especially in abnormal times, just continuing to live with optimism and resilience, and refusing to let the misguided or opportunistic divide, demean, distract or demoralize us is an act of resistance, and of faith.

Everyone around our Christmas table Tuesday was coming off a big year. There were several family weddings, one of a couple in their 60s. A grandchild was on the way for one. Some had close family members move back to town. Others had gotten a new job or other professional recognition. One had a new book out. Everyone was pretty healthy.

The night before, a different group of friends around another dinner table discussed their sources of hopefulness for the coming year. A Baby Boomer mother felt hopeful about her children’s generation and its passion, engagement, tolerance and “realistic view about the issues.” A doctor found the indomitable human spirit in a cancer patient who can’t move an arm but continues to exercise, and another patient who knows death is coming since stopping treatments, but still approaches each day with joy.

Several people spoke of the power of friendships and human connections, and the pleasure of celebrating together. One looks ahead to the growth of a garden with its fresh bounty in spring. Another finds renewal walking around Gray’s Lake, watching the nesting eagles and thinking of all they have to deal with just to survive. “Humans are pretty resilient too,” she observed.

“Everything requires effort, commitment and struggle,” said one man. “I feel hopeful about our own energy. “Not giving in to the worst of what we see, but being committed to working for positive change.”

Another man, who runs a museum, brought up the art of the late William "Bill" Traylor, who was born into slavery in Alabama, worked as a sharecropper after Emancipation and later taught himself to draw. He’s now described by the Smithsonian American Art Museum as one of the most important 20th century American artists.

Its website says: “Traylor would not live to see the civil rights movement, but he was among those who laid its foundation. Starting around 1939 — by then in his late 80s and living on the streets of Montgomery — Traylor made the radical steps of taking up pencil and paintbrush and attesting to his existence and point of view.”

The person who mentioned Traylor put it this way: “To live such a life and to still be able to create and communicate with the outside world, that’s something to be hopeful about.”

Indeed it is. All of these testimonials helped drive home what's worth fighting for, or yielding to, at different times in our lives. And it underscored that optimism for the future isn't just for those thriving today. It's why we will not surrender to demagogues seeking to divide us with base appeals to fear and hatred. Because love is stronger than hate, and hope is a whole lot more motivating than despair.

Here’s wishing you a joyful, hopeful and motivated New Year.

Contact Rekha at rbasu@dmreg.com Follow her on Twitter @rekhabasu and at Facebook.com/rekha.basu1106. Her book, "Finding Her Voice: A collection of Des Moines Register columns about women's struggles and triumphs in the Midwest," is available at ShopDMRegister.com/FindingHerVoice.